Upon the Rock, Universal Will Build Its Robert Ludlum Cinematic Universe

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The Rock has joined the cast of Universal’s The Janson Directive, which is based on the novel by Robert Ludlum (the Bourne books, every other paperback you’ve seen in the airport), but as with every spy novel, there’s a twist: This isn’t any ordinary movie, it’s part of a vast, interconnected network of movies! At least it’s going to be, according to Universal, which has hired James Vanderbilt (The Amazing Spider-Man, Truth) to both adapt Janson and work up treatments for two more Ludlum movies. Though Ludlum also wrote the Bourne novels, Universal has made no mention of connecting the Bourne films to these newer projects — remember what happened the last time they tried to make a Bourne universe? The studio also has plans for a Hanna-Barbera cinematic universe and a monster-movie cinematic universe. Cinematic universes: Because now movies are just TV!